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Posted by: Jay* 21st December 2020, 05:50 PM

https://www.steveyb.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/Melanie-B/MelanieB-02LAStateOfMind.jpg

'L.A. State of Mind'
27th June 2005

1. Today
2. Stay in Bed Days
3. Beautiful Girl
4. Music of the Night (Perdido)
5. If I Had My Life Again
6. In Too Deep
7. Sweet Pleasure
8. L.A. State of Mind
9. Say Say Say
10. Bad, Bad Girl
11. Hold On

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A thread dedicated to discussion about Mel B's second album 'L.A. State of Mind'!

Mel B's first solo album 'Hot' underperformed compared to the other solo Spice Girls albums, only reaching #28 in the UK. Virgin Records dropped Mel in 2001, and she subsequently spent a few years doing TV presenting and acting. A star turn in the Broadway production of Rent in 2004 encouraged Mel to return to recording music - without the support of a major label (she created her own - Amber Cafe) and recorded "in [her] kitchen". She eventually released the album, called 'L.A. State of Mind', in June 2005 - which deviates greatly from her previous album by having an acoustic pop sound. It was preceded by one single - 'Today' - which reached #41 in the UK, and sadly the album bombed at a shockingly low position of #453 - only known about because Music Week were amused enough to draw attention to it. To date this is Melanie's last album.

What are your thoughts and opinions on this album? Which tracks do you like, love, hate? What's your favourite? Were the singles the correct choices? Rate the tracks in order of favourite to least favourite.

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https://www.steveyb.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/Melanie-B/MelanieB-Sing06Today.jpg

Posted by: tommie 22nd December 2020, 09:23 AM

Original Topic Title: Mel B's Today was a huge success


No Strictly, no Christmas shows to sell it - she just decided to release a single, film a video on a cheap cam phone and presto! Outselling a lot of solo Spice, this is obviously the greatest underappreciated hit of our time:





TODAY TODAY NO I CAN'T WAIT

Posted by: Jay* 22nd December 2020, 09:48 AM

I’ve honestly always had a soft spot for Today. It’s obviously cheap, but melodically it’s very pleasant!

I was annoyed at the time that it made the Top 40 on physicals (I think #35) but ended up at #41 overall because of downloads. Downloads had only been included in the charts for a couple of months, so it was very new and I resented it

Posted by: tommie 22nd December 2020, 10:09 AM

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a soft spot for this stunning hit single

Here's a stunning live performance of it:

Posted by: Jay* 22nd December 2020, 10:19 AM

Flawless lip syncing & such a dramatic performance with the fan blowing her hair x

Posted by: vibe 22nd December 2020, 12:29 PM

i prefer the second album to Hot !!

Posted by: JosephCarey 22nd December 2020, 12:32 PM

Me too!

Today's a really nice song, it deserved better x

Posted by: Simon. 22nd December 2020, 01:34 PM

I liked it at the time however now I never go back to it, I just think why?

Posted by: sammy01 22nd December 2020, 02:07 PM

Wasn't it the first solo Spice single release to miss the top 40?

It's a cute sing either way.

Posted by: Jay* 22nd December 2020, 02:52 PM

Yeh the previous lowest charting was Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh at #27!

Posted by: sammy01 22nd December 2020, 04:51 PM

Yeah I thought so, so the thread starter was just having a dig at me.

Posted by: Pearll 22nd December 2020, 07:49 PM

I love Today!

Actually I really like her second album. I was listening to it last week. it has some hidden gems.

Posted by: spiceboy 22nd December 2020, 08:24 PM

I remember being so annoyed by this 🤣

More annoyed about I want candy being a top 10 hit on physicals though 🤣 (now I’m glad because that so is terrible such a stupid choice of single!)

Posted by: Babyboy 22nd December 2020, 09:51 PM

The main problem of the second Mel B album is the production even for an indie project.

Posted by: schizo_spice 22nd December 2020, 10:29 PM

Yes when it listen to it the basic production just cant be overlooked.

Love her vocals and many of the lyrics/melodies though.

Its the same with Beautiful Intentions by Mel C. Great record but the production let's much of it down. I just want to give it to the producers of Kelly Clarkson or Pink for a revamp.

Posted by: Chemistry 23rd December 2020, 10:39 AM

I always used to love Today. It's such an uplifting song, perfect for Spring. I am not as big a fan anymore, as it sounds quite dated, but it's still a cute little song that definitely deserved a lot more than it got.

Posted by: Jay* 23rd December 2020, 11:16 AM

I've repurposed this thread to be about L.A. State of Mind era too

Posted by: Mr.X 23rd December 2020, 11:26 AM

OK I have to listen to this again. The first time I listened to it was when it was released and I dont think Ive picked it up since.

What I remember is it being really bad. Like, worse than Hot which suited her much more, in my opinion. But the worse thing about it was the awful production values, no wonder she refered to it as her kitchen lol Oh and I just remember that this was released with a documentary attached to it - such a pointless doc, in my opinion...

I didnt know Amber Café label was started by her?... That kind of makes more sense to how badly the whole thing went... Still, the album not even cracking the top400 was a crime but there was no promo for it other than that one performance and interview. No wonder she never gave it another go after such bad returns.

Also, the title of the album... LA State of Mind.... It's just a bit 'oh hun well if this is the outcome of your state of mind, maybe LA isnt for you' lol

This does make me sad as it was clearly the final nail in the coffin for her solo music career (lets not talk about the tripe that came after...) for me.

Posted by: Jay❄ 23rd December 2020, 11:38 AM

I don't think I knew that Amber Café was set up by Mel B either (I assumed it was a very small indie label that released her stuff). I don't think she drew attention to creating her own label? It figures though, because they're the only releases under that label name! https://www.discogs.com/label/141745-Amber-Café

Posted by: spiceboy 26th December 2020, 05:36 PM

I adore this album it’s such a simple but pleasant listen I especially enjoy listening to it in the car in summer. The production could do with work but a lot of the album is very much Mel’s personal work so I can forgive her that. I actually also really like Today it’s another infectious tune that gets stuck in your head. Hold on at the end is gorgeous and I always associated with holding on until the time I felt brave enough to come out as a youngster, used to play it quite a lot and think one day I’m gonna tell my parents (then in reality they caught me at it with another guy so didn’t have a choice 😂).

I think the slow songs are better than the upbeat ones but even Bad Girl which is terrible I find myself belting it out with her 🤣.

Ranking:
1. Today 7/10
2. Stay in bed day 7/10
3. Beautiful girl 8/10
4. Music of the night 8/10
5. If I had my life again 10/10
6. In too deep 8/10
7. Sweet pleasure 7/10
8. LA state of mind 5/10
9. Say, say, say 9/10
10. Bad girl 5/10
11. Hold on 10/10

Posted by: sammy01 26th December 2020, 05:38 PM

I didn't know this was self released either.

Posted by: Piers 28th December 2020, 01:17 AM

If I'm being honest, I think Today's lucky to have charted as well as it did. The song's fine, and the horns toward the end are cute...but it's just not a commercial song by design. Did anybody play the music video in the UK? Cause...the video, I really can't defend. I get that it's a low-budget affair. But. My world is surrounded by videographers...and...the Today video is really, really bad. She wouldn't have to spend a ton to get something far better. The awkward editing...the weird plant in front of her face at one point...it's just...not good.

Anyway. Looking at the album as a whole, In Too Deep is really pretty and is my clear favorite of the album. I wish she'd sprung some money to get some decent producers. I get she'd have to go lower profile than her team on Hot. With the right producer, I actually think Bad, Bad Girl could be quite a bop...giving it the proper 80s-throwback treatment. "He said he'd leeeeeave" has the makings of a solid pop chorus...but it's sunk under the album's really tacky production and unflattering vocals. Likewise, I cringe at the opening of Music of the Night...sounding like music being sold in a tourist trap gift shop.

It's a weird thought looking back...this album came not even nine years after Wannabe. Just over four years after Feels So Good sold rather well. I wish some legit label had still been willing to take a chance on her. The production on this doesn't sound like someone who was still on board big hits just a few years before...

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 28th December 2020, 01:39 PM

I never knew this was self released either, shame it did so badly as the material isnt that bad at all.

Posted by: Mr.X 28th December 2020, 03:20 PM

Really? It's so badly produced and sang Like, you can see that there is potential for a good album there but mostly it is just badly done

Posted by: sammy01 28th December 2020, 03:39 PM

I get it is low budget but if Mel B paid for it herself you'd think she wanted a return on her money. It felt like she was being forced to promote it that week she came to the UK. Which is a stark contrast to Melanie 'buy This Time' C.

Posted by: tommie 28th December 2020, 04:22 PM

I just get the impression she threw it out herself with no real expectation for it to do well. True Indie Spice and Alt-Queen Melanie Brown.

Honestly, fans should do a remix album of this in trying to give it proper production. Bad, Bad Girl could be a complete #1 alt-jam with proper production on it.

Posted by: Mr.X 20th January 2022, 12:56 PM

So erm, apparently the #453 chart hit LA State of Mind was re-released last October 2021 and none of you TERRIBLE fans knew?!?!!?

https://store.hmv.com/store/music/cd/l-a-state-of-mind

Posted by: Chemistry 20th January 2022, 01:10 PM

I saw someone on Twitter posting a picture of the album in their local HMV Iconic! Maybe it can re-peak??? #351 would sound better than a #453 peak, right.

Posted by: -Jay- 20th January 2022, 02:45 PM

Imagine if it ever went higher than #453 but we never got to find out about it!

What a random album to be back in print!

Posted by: Mr.X 20th January 2022, 03:26 PM

It is kind of wild... Can someone get a copy so that we can check the credits and see if it is done by a new company?

I highly doubt that Mel B herself revived Amber Cafe records so she could print out some more copies... It might be some kind of independent release of an already independent release lol

Posted by: sammy01 20th January 2022, 03:47 PM

Didn't it get a random reprint a few years ago too?

Posted by: Spice Girls Net 20th January 2022, 03:52 PM

https://store.hmv.com/store/music/cd/l-a-state-of-mind

😊

Posted by: spiceboy 20th January 2022, 04:19 PM

We should start a campaign to buy it surely we can get it too 100 🤣

Posted by: Spice Girls Net 20th January 2022, 04:42 PM

We should

There’s also two versions on iTunes

Posted by: Mr.X 20th January 2022, 07:18 PM

I'd totally buy a new version if there was a campaign ah...

Posted by: spiceboy 20th January 2022, 07:20 PM

I would too... now who is going to kick start the campaign to get LASOM top 75 so all Spice albums have gone top 75

Posted by: schizo_spice 20th January 2022, 07:34 PM

I always thought this would be a really fantastic album if only if it had good production.

Posted by: -Jay- 20th January 2022, 07:53 PM

Just remember that we couldn't even get Forever back into the chart when there was a brand new vinyl release...

Posted by: tommie 20th January 2022, 08:00 PM

I think LA State of Mind has gotten random occasional reprints over the years as I believe Amber Cafe (whom Mel B seems to have nothing to do with) has licensed it out to smaller labels for printing.

Posted by: -Jay- 20th January 2022, 11:38 PM

The only releases from Amber Café are L.A. State of Mind and Today... which seems to suggest that Mel B created the label, or at least had a hand in it?

The catalog number of the album currently available in HMV is the same as the original 2005 release, and it still states the label as being Amber Café... so it doesn't appear to have been licensed to anyone else. It's hard to tell what exactly is different about it (if anything is), why it became available as new again in 2021, and who is responsible for it!

Posted by: sammy01 21st January 2022, 12:48 AM

It defo got a reprint a few years back, unless there is just loads of copies sat somewhere that keep being discovered lol

Posted by: tommie 21st January 2022, 05:43 AM

Looking at her past in companies there seems to be nothing to indicate that she had any hand in Amber Cafe: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/QDX3HFX_Np1FYVG5xZgLR2eNpio/appointments

Then again, an Amber Cafe that fits the description doesn't come up when you search for it as predictably, most are described as restaurant businesses. So it's a bit of a mystery.

Either way, LA State of Mind has definitively been licensed out before: https://www.amazon.co.uk/State-Mind-Melanie-Brown-2005-06-27/dp/B01K8NYMR0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QXBAV47KLRFZ&keywords=melanie+brown+la+state&qid=1642743625&sprefix=melanie+brown+la+state%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1

Posted by: -Jay- 21st January 2022, 08:55 AM

It doesn’t seem like that was any different to the 2005 release either, despite the different label stated on Amazon! Neither this site: http://ultimatespice.online.fr or Discogs have a different version listed, just the original from 2005 (both of these sites are meticulous with different versions, I bet the people behind Spice Discography ordered it & discovered that it was just the same).

It is certainly a mystery!

Posted by: tommie 21st January 2022, 08:59 AM

Maybe it's a rights thing that they can't change the original release or something? A nightmare scenario would otherwise that it turns out like La Toya's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Girl_(La_Toya_Jackson_album) album which has about a 1000 different releases on labels with varying tracklistings and covers. Seems a bit odd to just re-print the album, but I guess they earn money by sending a few copies out to stores every now and then.

Posted by: sammy01 21st January 2022, 10:00 AM

Not #453 smash hit album getting serveral reprints while flop ass Spiceworld cant get a cd reprint for love nor money. Mel B stays winning.

Posted by: tommie 21st January 2022, 10:58 AM

TBF, who would want to by FLOPWORLD when you can by LA STATE of MASSIVE HITS?

Posted by: Blond 2.0 22nd January 2022, 01:49 AM

LOL

Posted by: Piers 24th January 2022, 12:32 AM

So. This is off-topic. But. With nearly 17 years of retrospect...what's the general feeling out there in terms of how Mel should have handled LA State of Mind?

I'll say this. I recently did a re-listen...and the album does sound better when taken as a whole. I think most of it sounds remarkably cheap as isolated tracks (especially Music of the Night).

I just don't know if the situation should have been this bleak for Mel in 2005. The other four girls managed to have top 10 singles between 2004 and 2005. Mel herself was coming off from a (miscast...but still high profile) run in Rent. The thing is...I can't really claim LA State of Mind was undervalued on the charts with its #453 placing. Though I think several of the songs actually could have been pretty good with different production (In Too Deep especially)...the album we have is an extremely uncommercial release.

On the flip side, though...I think it's a little admirable that Mel wanted to give her producer friends a moment in the spotlight. And if Mel wanted a musical outlet and a chance to work with her friends...why shouldn't she do that?

I think I land on...maybe she should have made the tracks available for free on her site? Either that, or she could have made a legit full-length doc and included the songs on the DVD (similar to what Victoria did with Real Beckhams). It'd have been a chance to get some music out there without the tabloid lashing from the #453 chart placing.

Posted by: Mr.X 24th January 2022, 11:16 AM

Ooofff... I think the situation was quite sad to be honest. She did an album in her kitchen with no backing whatsoever. Amber Cafe was set up just to release it, the whole thing was quite low affair...

Having said that, I am not sure Mel really had it in her to do it properly or throw herself at a proper campaign and album production process, after the failure of Hot. She was really scarred from that experience, with even one of the producers saying she couldnt sing, and then the utter failure of it. I guess that really threw her off and she then was like 'well, im just doing it for fun'... No doubt she could have still done it 'for fun' whilst on a proper company and budget, which she didnt have...

Her move to LA really did some quite strange things to her. A miriad of awful projects, low visibility, etc. She did strike some success with Rent and then obviously Xfactor and American Idol or whatever, but she really suffered on her music side and acting side of things.

It is really a budget release, which is really sad as she could do much better as a solo artist... She really deserved much better!

Posted by: ___∆___ 12th June 2023, 06:22 PM

Always had a soft spot for this album and solo Mel B.

I remember release week not being able to find it anywhere, I managed to track it down 2-3 weeks after release, I know it wouldn’t have been a runaway success but you literally couldn’t buy it even if you wanted to.

‘Today’ was robbed with its #41 peak but a challenging week with 11 entries above it.

‘If I Had My Life Again’ is still one of my favourite tracks

Posted by: spiceboy 12th June 2023, 06:29 PM

If I had my life again is my favourite track too, but I always resonated with Hold on, it felt like such a song to me telling me to hold on a bit longer before I could come out and run away to university!

I actually adore the album, I know it's cheap sounding but it's lovely in the summer sun, I can certainly sense her LA vibe in it. I also think Beautiful Girl is a much better song than Lullaby.

Posted by: ___∆___ 12th June 2023, 06:45 PM

Love that!

Just listening to the album again now, it’s really not as bad as some would have you believe - I always wonder what Mel expected from this release? She obviously didn’t go into it expecting it to perform as it did but I’d love to know what her expectations were especially after the performance of ‘Today’.

Posted by: tommie 12th June 2023, 06:48 PM

"Bad Bad Girl" has always been a favourite because it's sort of terrible lol

Posted by: ___∆___ 12th June 2023, 06:51 PM

Sounds like it was recorded on a Nokia too - reminds me of the kind of song that would be used in an action scene of a dodgy satellite TV sitcom

Posted by: vibe 12th June 2023, 07:06 PM

I bought the album with the DVD!

Always enjoyed the album and overall it is better than HOT!
The only terrible song is sweet pleasure!